Bam just wants 2nd chance

Ex-Steelers running back Bam Morris was in town briefly to try out for the Predators.

January 15, 2006|By Andrew Carter, Sentinel Staff Writer

Byron "Bam" Morris breathed deep and sighed. He was thinking of the four years he spent in prison, about what he saw there.

"The list goes on," he said. "Everything happens in prison. Fights, racial wars. Whites-blacks, Mexicans-blacks, Mexicans-whites. I mean a whole unit of people fighting and people getting stabbed.

"That was on a daily basis. That wasn't uncommon at all."

Ten years ago, Morris helped lead the Pittsburgh Steelers to the Super Bowl. He was a hard-charging back whose nickname was appropriate because he always seemed to barrel through the line, legs churning and tacklers dragging.

Then the only guy who could ever bring him down finally did -- himself.

That's why Morris was in Orlando this week, trying to resurrect a career buried by drugs, poor choices and prison time. Morris spent a week in training camp with the Orlando Predators, aiming to earn a roster spot and a chance to prove himself in the Arena Football League.

But he left camp Saturday, hopeful that a meeting earlier in the week with NFL officials would result in his reinstatement into the league. Morris is hoping to find out whether he will be reinstated this week.

Morris expected to fly out of Orlando on Saturday night and return to Texas, his home state, where he said he'd train for a possible return to the NFL.

Morris said he is thankful for his opportunity in Orlando, but he wants to make a triumphant return to the football's biggest stage. Eventually, he wants to become a motivational speaker and publish a book detailing his troubles. For now, he'll settle for a chance -- anywhere -- to prove his troubles are in his past.

"I'm still trying to put the pieces of my life together," Morris said early last week, "because I still have the desire and hope in my heart that I can play one more time."

Originally, Morris was hoping the Preds could give him that chance. Even if he didn't feel confident of his reinstatement into the NFL. During his brief stint in the Predators camp, he struggled with the style of Arena ball, particularly with playing defense.

Morris said he hasn't played much defense since 1987, his freshman year of high school.

"I knew that coming in [that I'd have to play defense]," Morris said Saturday. "I wanted to put those pads on and see if I still had quick feet, if I could still go through the hole.

"Deep down inside, I know I still want to play. Arena ball just wasn't for me."

Morris, who turned 34 on Friday, said Orlando was a good place for him to rekindle his career. Morris is close with Kenny McEntyre, the Predators veteran defensive specialist, and McEntyre helped steer Morris to Orlando.

Predators camp opened last Friday. Morris, 6 feet 2 and 250 pounds -- still strong from years of lifting weights behind bars -- came into town the night before. He has been free since July 30, 2004, when he was released from a jail in Huntsville, Texas. He spent a little more than four years incarcerated after he pleaded guilty in August, 2000, to attempting to distribute more than 200 pounds of marijuana.

That charge came after a long list of others.

His first came months after he ran for a game-high 73 yards and a touchdown in a 27-17 loss to the Dallas Cowboys in Super Bowl XXX in 1996. But the real problems began much earlier -- even before the Steelers picked him in the third round of the 1994 draft.

Morris left Texas Tech after his junior season, after earning the Doak Walker Award that goes to the nation's top collegiate running back.

He was ready physically, but far from it mentally.

"Me coming out 22-years-old and getting $20,000-30,000 checks a week -- that's a lot of money," Morris said. "You ain't never had that much money in your life as a 22-year-old."

Morris shakes his head now when he thinks about how he spent it on clothes, cars and rims. He spent it on partying and drugs, too. At Texas Tech and even before, Morris became married to drugs. Doing them, selling them. When he got to the NFL, with more money than he could ever imagine, he didn't know how to stop.

"I was doing it before I had money," Morris said. "And then when I did try to pull away from it, I was still trying to help other folks even though I wasn't hands-on [selling it]. But I would introduce guys and some people I knew."

Morris made millions in his most productive years. He still sold.

"Greed, that's basically what it is," Morris said. "You might have enough money but you just want to keep having more and more money. Greed gets the best of you. It got the best of me."

In 1999, after stops with the Steelers, Ravens and Chiefs, he "retired." In reality, though, there wasn't another team willing to take a chance on Morris.

Morris believes he found himself in prison, where his fame as a well-known football player was greeted with animosity and threats. Some of Morris' jobs in prison included hauling hay, cutting grass and collecting chicken eggs. Sometimes, he'd get to play handball or basketball. But he spent most of his time alone, thinking.